Botswana Media Studies Papers Vol 2

THE BOTSWANA MEDIA
STUDIES PAPERS
A Collection Presented by the Media Studies

Department, University of Botswana
Volume Two
The Botswana Media Studies Papers, vol 2
The Media Studies Papers, vol 2.

A Collection of Papers Compiled by the
Media Studies Department, University
of Botswana
Edited by Richard Rooney
Published by The Media Studies

Department, Faculty of Humanities,
University of Botswana, Private Bag
703, Gaborone, Botswana
www.ub.bw
2015. Copyright remains with

individual contributors
Contents
Introduction
By Richard Rooney .
The Effects of Political Advertising in Botswana

By Patience Mathambo ..
Of Shooting and Shootings - Illumination as Africa Shoots Back

By Foluke Ogunleye .
23
BTV Fails The People: an analysis of Botswana Television News

By Richard Rooney .
31
Introduction
By Richard Rooney
This is a collection of papers originally presented at a series of research seminars hosted

by the Department of Media Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of
Botswana during 2014.
The work presented recognises the wide spectrum of teaching and research that takes
place within the department; ranging, in this collection, across television, advertising and
film.
The Media Studies Department is the major centre in Botswana for the teaching of
vocational and theoretical media. It runs two undergraduate programmes in Media
Studies and intends to launch a Masters programme in the not-too-distant future.
In this volume, Patience Mathambo discusses the effects that political advertising has
on citizens of Botswana. Elections are the most noteworthy proceedings in representative
democracies. Even though for the vast majority of the time most people in Botswana are
indifferent with regards to political issues. Elections however do draw people into the
political arena for a while and determine who will wield political power. According to
prior research, exposure to political advertising is largely informative and may even
decrease information gaps between those who are well versed regarding politics and
those who are unconcerned in society, although it does not create significant changes in
candidate predilection.
Foluke Ogunleye examines the various functions that the cinema in Africa has
performed at various times in the history of the development of the continent. The cinema
has been pressed into service, both to colonize and decolonize the African mind. This is
explained through an exposition of the history of cinema in Africa, its use by the
colonialists as well as its roles in post-independence Africa. Ogunleye discusses the fact
that the cinema in colonial Africa was used, both as a means of propaganda by the
colonialists as well as a commercial product by the business class. Ogunleye points out
the fact that in spite of an attempt to relegate the colonized Africans into the role of
passive consumers of filmic fare, some Africans were very active in the filmmaking
business, thereby participating in laying the foundation for the African film.
Richard Rooney explores news content on Botswana TV in the context of the
stations stated aims to inform people about events within and outside the country, to
interpret such events and whenever possible suggest appropriate approaches to them and
to do this by providing balanced, credible and professionally-tailored programmes
containing fair and balanced reporting. It must do this while also promoting the policies
of the Botswana Government. Rooney answers three broad research questions: (i) what

are the self-defined aims of BTV News?; (ii) to what extent are these aims being met
through the stations news bulletins?; and (iii) how well does BTV fit the model of public
service broadcasting?
The Botswana Media

Studies Papers Vol. 1 is
available on-line by
clicking here
The Effects of Political Advertising in

Botswana
Patience Mathambo
Abstract
This article discusses the effects that political advertising has on citizens of Botswana.
Elections are the most noteworthy proceedings in representative democracies. Even
though for the vast majority of the time most people in Botswana are indifferent with
regards to political issues. Elections however do draw people into the political arena for
a while and determine who will wield political power. According to prior research,
exposure to political advertising is largely informative and may even decrease
information gaps between those who are well versed regarding politics and those who
are unconcerned in society, although it does not create significant changes in candidate
predilection.
Key words: political communication, political advertising, election campaigns,
democracy, effects
pointing out that, in many areas, when

it comes to media attention, the rich get
richer and the poor get poorer (ibid).
Political communication consists of
various components some of which
include political campaigns, political
marketing and political advertising.
Therefore, political advertising which
also encompasses political campaigning,
will be the focus of this paper.
Stockwell (2005:7) points out that a
political campaign is not simply the
introduction to a snapshot of the
collective will taken on the day of the
elections. Instead, politics is a job that
attempts to create the collective will so
voters take specific choices not just on
election day but on a variety of concerns
and in their day-to-day life too (ibid).
Introduction
Political communication is a power
game and those who already wield the
power are therefore able to easily
penetrate the political sphere, acquiring
publicity for themselves and thus
adequately getting their messages across.
Often times the news media are
engrossed with matters concerning the
privileged and influential in society.
This tendency has wide-ranging
significances for the function the media
play in politics. Wolfsfeld posits that,
Owing to demarcations of what is
considered news, the feebler contenders
often have the choice of either doing
something shocking or being relegated
to that distant land known as oblivion
(2011:2). He accurately puts it by

Norris et al posit that a good campaign
is anxious about the evaluations of
efficiency in terms of succeeding and not
succeeding, although with the value of
political discourse. US research has
revealed developments to progressively
negative party campaigning and has
connected these to indication of
diminishing citizen engagement with the
democratic process and growing voter
indifference (Norris et al, 1999:55).
Trent and Friedenburg (2004:3) view
political campaigns as essential in the
democratic process because citizens are
able to dynamically contribute in placing
their desired candidates in positions of
power. Therefore, allowing citizens to
have a say on how their nations should
function. They view political campaigns
as communication phenomena and hence
strive to offer realistic understanding of
the strategic and tactical communication
choices candidates and their managers
must make as they wage the campaign.
Trent and Friedenburg postulate that the
basis of each election campaign is
communication, which occupies the area
between the goals or aspirations of the
candidate and the behaviour of the
electorate (2004:4). They posit that
political campaign communication is
much more than just talk (2004:67).
Here they pinpoint that imbalance
regarding the way in which people
organize their thoughts about politics
can occur, however, a consistent finding
after years of research indicates that the
public often shares a lot of beliefs about
the personal qualities candidates ought
to possess, especially presidential
candidates (Trent and Friedenburg,
2004:69).
Consequently,
voter
assessment of a candidates image is a
The responsibility of the contributing

civilian is to use all and any method of
influence available to prompt the
collective to actions the citizenries deem
essential. According to Jackson and
Lilleker
(2006:28)
political
communication has become a pursuit
designed for a mass audience utilising
the mass media of television throughout
most of the nations in the world today.
Therefore,
targeted
political
communication has developed into less
of an aspect in modern elections,
notwithstanding research that denotes
the significance of direct communication
among politicians and the public (ibid).
In a pluralist democracy, where a
number of voices are contesting on any
matter, it appears evident that they
would all contest over the media plan. It
is the principal method of interaction
with a large audience, and so a
significant way of persuading the public.
According to Norris et al (1999:54)
election campaigns disregard TV at their
detriment and hence as a result, have
come to be devised for the cameras.
Each party tries to increase the news
profile of issues and themes it believes
to be most flattering for itself and most
harmful to adversaries, with the
conviction that status in the news will
convert into better salience in voters
minds, and thus sway voting decisions.
They point out that this campaigning
reasoning is in line with agenda-setting
theories of media effects, which point
out that if the media do not quite tell us
what to think, they tell us what to think
about (Norris et al, 1999:54). Hence, if
television is the main combat zone for
the news agenda, the significance of
newspapers cannot be undervalued.

significant factor in voting behaviour.
Often voters have a mental picture of an
ideal candidate that they use as a gauge
in evaluating actual candidates (Trent
and Friedenburg, 2004:71). However, it
is essential to note that all these
glamourised characteristics romanticised
by the voters are often put forward under
disingenuous circumstances as a way of
enticing the electorates.
It is ostensibly clear in Botswana that
preceding the elections politicians often
become very antagonistic in their
campaigns and go to great lengths to
rally citizens on their side in a bid to win
votes.
As the elections approach
political posters, fliers and billboards of
diverse dimensions and designs are quite
often seen in numerous places around
the country with politicians promising
all up in arms, promising to give an
improved life for the citizenry. This
campaigning is done through various
means one of which includes political
advertising. Political advertising is a
pervasive presence in the modern
Botswana political campaign today.
Mass political advertising, includes
television, radio, billboards, newspapers,
internet, direct mail, pamphlets, etc.
However, the prevalence of political
advertising raises a problem for political
theorists (Kaid, Gerstle and Sanders
1991; Johnson-Cartee and Copeland
1997).
The news media are a particularly
significant part of nearly every political
competition. Since the burgeoning of
the Internet, the manner in which, the
media functions has been altered
momentously. However, the desire to be
heard remains an integral part of the
political game. Every political actor
wishes to disseminate their message to a

sizeable audience in order to summon
followers to their cause. Therefore,
recognising the political framework in
which the news media operates is
essential.
The approach that politicians use to
campaign and the degree to which they
specify an informed choice for voters, is
a vital part of the study. Consequently,
how candidates present themselves in
the free media (such as nightly news
bulletins) and in the paid media
(political advertisements) is increasingly
important to the election outcome.
Political parties and election candidates
place great emphasis on political
advertisements because these are the
most direct method for communicating
with voters (Young, 2002:81). It is
essential to describe the type of political
advertising which is examined in this
thesis
as
there
are
numerous
circumstances in which advertising
might
be
considered
political.
According to Young, Firstly, there is
government advertising which is used to
promote or explain government policies
or programs (2002:82). Secondly, there
are the advertisements placed by lobby
groups and private interests (such as
unions, business leaders and issue
groups), which are devised to sway
community outlook and persuade
politicians (ibid). Thirdly, the term
political advertising is usually used to
signify the advertisements produced by
political
parties
and
individual
candidates which are presented during
election campaigns in order to persuade
voters to vote for them. This paper will
focus on this type of political advertising
(ibid).

in Botswana it is not yet known how it
has changed or what impact any of the
changes have had on the political
system.
Many complaints about
political advertising raise issues about
the truth and accuracy of the
advertisement, in particular if the
advertisement is seen to be
disingenuous. The main aim of this
paper therefore, is to determine the
effects that political advertising has in
Botswana.
Political advertising performs two

functions, to inform voters and to
persuade them. The approach in which
politicians campaign and the level to
which they provide an informed
choice for voters is an important
theme of the study. Theoretically
political advertising is one of the main
methods politicians can use to
highlight their distinctions regarding
policy, philosophy and leadership
(Laughey, 2007). It is a crucial issue
whether politicians use political
advertising for this purpose to
educate voters and aid informed
decision-making or whether they use
them for other measures such as
scaremongering, making false claims
about their opponents or reducing
complicated matters to simplified
slogans. The principal objective in
political advertising is of course to win
elections and while no researcher has
been able to conclusively determine
how, Young (2004:142) argues that
political advertisements have an effect
on voters and can even influence
choice. It is contended that political
advertisements have contributed to
the deterioration of the political
parties, the ascent of a skeptical
constituency and the dumbing down
of political debate.
These are
worrisome accusations and with no
comprehensive study of political
advertising in Botswana it is essential
to test these claims.
Political
advertising
seems
to
have
transformed profoundly over the
years and numerous analysts as in the
case of Australian political analyst
Sally Young, fear it has changed for the
worst (Young, 2004:278). However,
Public and Academic Interest in

Political Advertising
Political advertising is everywhere, and
its
ubiquity
raises
fundamental
questions.
1. Does campaign advertising really
matter?
2. Do campaign ads break through the
clutter and enter the consciousness of the
Motswana voter?
In other words, do they influence
citizens views of the candidates and
affect how they vote on Election Day?
On the one hand, of course, the
answer seems obvious.
They must
matter.
Why, otherwise, would
candidates and their allies spend so
much money on them?
Although there is some scholarly
evidence that political commercials
move votes, there is still no consensus
about the extent of advertisings
impactthat is, how many votes, if any,
are changed (Young, 2004). Many
scholars have chosen to investigate
important
by-product
effects
of
advertising, such as the relationship
between advertising tone and citizens
involvement or participation in the
political system. However, Huber and

Arceneaux (2007, 957) write that, Few
studies that analyze actual campaigns
have been able to demonstrate that
advertisements persuade individuals to
change their minds.
Furthermore, in January 2012, the BCP

decided to breakaway from the umbrella
party (Mmegi, 2011). A statement by
the partys publicity secretary Taolo
Lucas indicated that the umbrella party
lacked seriousness, and we as a
competitive and serious organization
cannot stand for that (Sunday Standard,
2012). Even so, in November 2012, the
umbrella party launched its new party
colours, symbol and leadership and a
new name and is now known as the
Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC)
(Sunday Standard, 2012). Due to the
BDP ruling for an extended period,
political analysts believe there has been
a tremendous decline in democracy in
Botswana since independence (Balule
and Kandjii, 2004; Fombad, 2002; Good,
2005). Good (2005:45) also states that,
Inequality,
discrimination,
the
dominance of a single political party, the
governments aversion to criticism, and
an array of human rights abuses are
among the many problems afflicting
Botswana today.
Political Parties in Botswana

Since independence in 1966, the
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has
won all the elections.
The other
opposition parties have not posed much
of a threat to the BDP. The main
opposition parties are made up of the
Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and the
Umbrella for Democratic Change which
consists of the Botswana National Front
(BNF) and the Botswana Movement for
Democracy (BMD) other political
parties are the Botswana Peoples Party
(BPP) and the Botswana Alliance
Movement (BAM). Party politics in
Botswana are characterized by series of
disintegration and the formation of
splinter parties. For example the BCP
was formed after the BNF split in 1998
and the BMD was formed in 2008 after
some members of the BDP had in-party
disagreements with the party leadership.
Because the ruling BDP was such a
powerful party and had over the years
proven to be unbeatable, the main
opposition parties decided to form a
coalition and become what was referred
to by the media as the umbrella party
(Mmegi, 2011). The umbrella party
consisted of the BCP, BNF, BMD and
BPP. At the time of formation in 2010,
the umbrella party had not yet made
known its mandate. It did not have a
name and was only known as the
umbrella party. Due to its lack of
direction the umbrella party appeared to
be
formed
out
of
frustration.
Campaign Practices in Botswana

The length of a campaign is
approximately 15 months although it
is mainly contingent on the
accessibility of party and candidate
funds (Maundeni, 2005). There is a
system of primary elections which
occur before the general election;
therefore a campaign could take about
three to four years (Maundeni, 2005).
Due to the meager funds, campaigns
for the opposition parties typically
commence much later than the ruling
party. This is a way for them to
preserve and sustain the funds until
the end of the elections.
This
10

automatically puts the opposition
parties at a major disadvantage as the
ruling party enjoys wider public
media coverage. Furthermore, the
ruling party is the only party with
giant billboards in every constituency
bearing portraits of its parliamentary
candidates (Gazette, 2012).
Paid
political advertising is a means
through which parties and candidates
sell themselves to the electorate,
mostly through the mass media. The
former National Broadcasting Board
(NBB) now known as the Botswana
Communications Regulatory Authority
(BOCRA) encouraged that parties
should rely on regular media
coverage, particularly the state media,
which is free because it allows
candidates and parties to appear in
the media without having to pay for it
(Gazette, 2009).
It is well known that the ruling
party is the richest and can afford the
most advertising (Gazette, 2009).
However, possession of abundant
campaign finance is not necessarily
the same as having valuable political
ideas. It is, indeed, true that a party
representing the aspirations of the
down-trodden and underprivileged
may be at a disadvantage under paid
political advertising (Gazette, 2009).
Much political-science research more
generally would suggest that ads should
have little impact on changing peoples
candidate preferences. For example,
many people enter election campaigns as
partisans/followers which makes it
difficult to sway these voters. Moreover,
scholars have shown that election
outcomes can be predicted quite well on
the basis of a few pieces of data known
months before an electionthat is

months before the bulk of advertising
has been aired (Forester and Marks
1999). Other scholars submit that while
advertising might have the potential to
sway voters when one side dominates
the
airwaves,
most
presidential
campaigns are balanced ones in which
competing messages cancel each other
out (Pinkleton 1998).
In first world countries, specifically
the United States, political advertising
has captured the public imagination.
Dramatic, negative, and sometimes
shocking advertisements are frequently
used in American presidential elections.
This level of awareness is reflected in
the amount of media attention which
political
advertisements
receive.
According to Kaid and Holtz-Bacha
(1995) during presidential election
campaigns,
American
media
commentators take an active role in
policing political advertisements in
what is termed adwatches these are
print and broadcast media segments in
which reporters critique political
advertisements and comment on the
claims made in them.
Now in contrast, in Botswana,
political advertisements have tended to
be viewed as only peripheral/nonessential to the election, with academics
and media outlets focusing instead on
opinion polls, the activities of the party
leaders and or unpaid media events. In
essence,
Botswana
political
advertisements receive far less public or
media attention (Young, 2002). Partly,
this may be due to some major
differences in the way advertisements
are used.
11

An in-depth focus on one or two ads
in a campaign would only begin to
answer the question of how the ad
environment in total influences citizens
attitudes and choices. Indeed, most
citizens in actual campaigns view
multiple political ads and often in high
numbers.
The contention is relatively simple.
The argument is that campaign ads do
matter, but their impact is largely
contingent. More specifically, the focus
is on the influence of political ads as
moderated by three key factors:
the characteristics of the ads
(promotional versus attack ads, for
example),
the campaign context in which they
air (such as open seats and competitive
races with an incumbent running),
and the receiver of the ad message
(partisan/follower
viewers
or
independent viewers).
These are not the only conditions
under which an ads effectiveness might
be moderated, of course; the issues
discussed in the ads may help or hinder a
campaigns persuasive appeals; the
presence or absence of a scandal may
also matter, as might the overall
production quality of the ads. The three
major factors focused on here, however,
are the ones scholars have studied the
most and are arguably the most
important factors that condition the
influence of advertising.
Determining the actual persuasive
influence of campaign advertising is
more than an academic exercise,
however. Certainly, elections are the
primary means by which voters and their
elected representatives are connected,
and political advertising in particular
accounts for the overwhelming bulk of

candidates and parties electioneering
budgets. Voters are often bombarded by
these short messages, and in many cases
they represent the voters only exposure
to the candidate.
If ads aired during an election
campaign do, in fact, alter voters
candidate preferences, determining the if
and when is only part of the bigger story.
The question to be considered is how ads
are persuading? On the one hand, ads
might be manipulating, convincing
people to vote for a candidate who might
act against their best interests.
This would be quite troublesome, as it
would suggest that the candidate who
has the most money to buy ads will be
the victor, not the candidate who is more
representative
of
the
particular
electorate. On the other hand, ads might
be persuading by informing, by
providing people with the information
that they need to make enlightened
decisions about which candidates best
represent their interests. In this case, ads
are not troublesome but represent one
more way by which to bring information
to voters, offering a connection between
elector and elected.
Electoral
Effects
of
Political
Advertising
The most nagging advertising in
particular in the study of campaigns
generally and political advertising in
particular is whether campaign messages
exert any influence on electoral
behaviour.
Consultants
and
commentators cite a long list of political
advertisements that apparently produced
significant shifts in voting preferences of
constituents and therefore, reversed the
12

opponents policy ideas or personal
character. An example is one of the
internet ads about the President of
Botswana on the UDC Facebook page.
In this ad we see the president of
Botswana portrayed as narcissistic. The
advert depicts his brain with the largest
part of it consisting of me, myself and
I. The family and friends and friends
section is the second largest and finally
the smallest part of the brain consists of
Batswana (rest of the country).
These messages, shown by candidates
attempt to alarm or cause resentment
towards a political opponent. The point
of these ads is crystal clear: to convince
voters to vote for the other candidate in
order to have a better future.
Consultants and campaign managers
have increasingly turned to attack or
negative ads, commercials in which
candidates or their surrogates assail their
opponents abilities, experience and
integrity rather than promote themselves
and their own record, issue positions or
ideas.
momentum of a political campaign.

Most political scientists, have, however,
questioned whether campaign messages
such as advertisements exert any
influence on voting decisions. Forty
years of survey research have repeatedly
found that the effects of campaigning are
negligible compared to circumstantial
factors such as the state of economy,
party, and incumbency (McNair, 2011).
There is no statistical evidence from
surveys that campaign advertisements
are persuasive.
The
argument
that
campaign
advertising has only minimal effects on
elections is difficult to reconcile with
candidates actual behaviour.
All
serious campaigns invest heavily in
advertising. What is more, surveys
likely understate the magnitude of the
effect of campaign advertisements.
Ansolabehere and Iyengar (1996) find
that exposure to a political advertisement
increased the lead of the candidate who
sponsored the advertisement by 7.7
percentage points (plus of minus 4.0
points with 95 percent confidence.) The
effect of airing a single advertisements
to a population are too small to detect
except with very large surveys.
Tone
Political messages come in many shades
and tones. Some of them are progressive
and inspirational, where contenders
relate
the
hardships
and
accomplishments
of
their
lives.
Candidates will often conjure feelings of
fervour, anticipation, or joy. Others
portray the candidate eagerly talking
with everyday Batswana about economic
or moral issues. Some ads, by contrast
are negative and nasty, attacking an
The nasty tone of current political

campaigns is widely thought to generate
13

serious political externalities. Citizens
allegedly become disaffected from
conventional politics and are less likely
to vote. The bitterness of campaigns
continues long after the election,
creating greater animosity between the
parties within the legislature and greater
problems disciplining members to vote
on controversial issues.
political advertisements
are
still
extremely important to the politicians
who produce them. Clearly, political
advertisements are extremely significant
to their producers and by focusing on
this group we can still determine much
about politics and elections.
Their
advertisements speak volumes about
what our politicians want to tell us, how
they want to present themselves, how
they try to convince us, who they think
their audience is and their assumptions
about that audience.
It is ok to
change! by Gomolemo Motswaledi.
Do Political Advertisements Work?

Despite the host of research which has
been performed, no researcher has been
able to determine conclusively the
effects of political advertising on
voters.
Findings from surveys and
experimental studies are largely nongeneralisable and, in some cases,
research results have been blatantly
contradictory (particularly in regard to
the effects of negative political
advertising) (Young, 2004). Overall, it
remains virtually impossible to isolate
the effect of advertising on voting choice
as distinct from other elements of
influence such as family, education,
media and partisanship.
Even the
political parties themselves have little
data on advertising effects (Powell
1998).
If you ask typical Batswana what they
think of negative campaign ads they see
on billboards, Internet etc., many will
tell you that they detract from Botswana
politicsthat they weaken democratic
discourse.
However, to admit that we do not
know and perhaps will never know what
effect political advertisements have on
voters, is not to say that advertisements
are unworthy of study or that they make
no difference at all. Even if they do not
sway many (or even, any) voters,
By studying the content of political

advertising we can learn much about
Botswana politicians, including their
messages, strategies and assumptions
about their audience. This information
is of great significance to political
scientists who are trying to make sense
of political actors and their behaviour.
Advertising is one of the main
methods by which candidates can outline
their differences in terms of policy,
philosophy and leadership. There are a
number of concerns surrounding the use
of political advertising in Botswana.
One major concern relates to the
14

inability of minor parties and
independent candidates to afford
television advertising or any form of
advertising in Botswana.
These
candidates
face
a
significant
disadvantage in communicating with
potential voters compared to the
established major parties that receive the
lions share of public and private
funding and are far better resourced to
purchase
television
advertisements
(Tucker and Young 2001). There are
also concerns that the lack of quality
information in political advertisements
dumbs down political debate and that
the increasing use of negative
advertising in Botswana fosters public
cynicism where false and misleading
claims are made in political advertising
(Ward 1995; Ansolabehere and Iyengar
1995). This has the potential to distort
the democratic process by giving
advantage to wealth.
compelling puzzle. Even as political

parties spend lots of money on campaign
ads, believing that they are crucial for
victory, some scholars believe their
effects are small, and many citizens
express displeasure at their abundance.
The conventional view of voting
behaviour in Botswana was that the
majority of Batswana identify with a
particular party and will cast their vote
for that party regardless of what occurs
during the election campaign. However,
this view has been challenged by
evidence which suggests that there are
now fewer partisan voters, more
swinging voters and more people
deciding their vote during the campaign.
An online Facebook poll of 322
respondents in 2014 indicates that
exposure to campaign stimuli via the
electronic/social media can have some
influence on voting behaviour. At least
158 (49%) respondents indicated that
campaign stimuli had influence on their
voting behaviour, with 109 (34%)
indicating there was no influence and 55
(17%) were neutral.
Maundeni (2005) found that print,
radio and television advertisements
played an important role in persuading
undecided and swinging voters during
the Botswana 2004 elections. So this
actually shows that campaign advertising
appears increasingly important in terms
of its effect on voting behaviour.
Although many voters are supporters
and have determined their vote before
the election campaign begins, many have
not and their proportion is increasing
(McAllister and Mughan 1987; Bean,
Gow and McAllister 1998).
For a growing number of people,
election campaigns are therefore a major
Political Advertising During the

Botswana Elections
In a 2006 Gallup poll, 69% of Batswana
reported that they believe little or
nothing of what is said in political
advertising. Furthermore, opinion poll
after opinion poll finds that Batswana
think politics and campaigns are too
negative. In 2014, for example, 63% of
respondents in a national poll reported
that opposition party candidates ads
were too negative, 61% reported that
ads from ruling party candidates were
too negative. Nearly 70% reported
that neither the ruling party nor the
opposition parties ads provided useful
information. If Batswana do not trust
political ads, then how can they be
persuaded? What emerges is a
15

influence on voting choice and, when a
difference of only a few percentage
points can determine the outcome of an
election, this group is large enough to be
very significant. Given that American
effects researchers have found that
undecided voters and late deciders are
the groups who are most likely to be
influenced by political advertising spots
(Kaid and Johnston 2000, 20), it
therefore seems increasingly important
to pay attention to how advertisements
are actually utilised.
According to Mills (1986, 22), one of
the major criticisms of modern political
advertising is that it is emotive and
manipulates peoples feelings. There are
those who view modern political
advertising in this light as essentially
trivial,
exploiting
emotions
and
substituting catchcries and slogans for
real political debate. On the other hand,
idealists might hope that political
advertisements will encourage informed
decision-making,
educate
voters,
stimulate
debate
and
promote
participation. However, political parties
are less concerned about these civic
functions; for them, the primary aim of
political advertisements is to win votes.
and political parties about whether they

are getting their moneys worth.
Research on the effects of political
advertising on voters is therefore better
funded and has been a particularly
popular topic amongst communication
researchers.
A second factor may be the relative
lack of prominence within Botswana
political science, in comparison with the
American profession, of the quantitative
methods that predominate in the US
research in this field (Ward and van
Acker, 1996).
Limited access to
research materials is another factor
which discourages research in Botswana.
For instance, in Botswana there is no
single
repository
of
political
advertisements.
Other
TV
advertisements
held
in
private
collections are neither easily obtainable
nor stored on a format which preserves
them for future use.
Botswana
researchers who wish to investigate
radio or print advertisements face an
even more difficult task. Currently, they
have to trawl through archived radio
tapes and old newspapers in order to
locate
individual
political
advertisements.
This is a time
consuming and expensive process which
has undoubtedly contributed to the lack
of research which has been undertaken
on
Botswana
print
and
radio
advertisements.
All political advertisements are
cultural documents which represent in
miniature the issues, major players,
debates and circumstances of the day. In
60, 30 or even 15 seconds, television
advertisements encapsulate a great deal
about politics, history and society. It is
important that Botswana political
Botswana Research Constraints

First, Botswana political parties have
little funding available for research and
tend to conduct their own in-house
appraisals of advertisements. In the
United States, by contrast, one of the
driving forces behind academic interest
in political advertising is the availability
of funding for research. Because so
much is spent on political advertising in
other countries such as the US, there is a
great deal of interest amongst candidates
16

advertisements are collected, preserved
and studied.
Because political
advertisements are central to Botswana
election campaigns, it is unfortunate that
difficulties in accessing information
sources about electioneeringboth
research materials and interview subjects
who are willing to discuss their roles
have evidently discouraged greater
study.
that political advertising currently plays

in Botswana politics and of its likely
increasing importance in the future.
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About the Author

Patience Mathambo is a Lecturer in the Department of Media Studies at the University of
Botswana. She teaches courses in Media Studies, specialising in Public Relations. Her
research interests encompass political communication; political media history; political
advertising and public relations. She is particularly interested in the effects of political
advertising in Botswana.
Suggested citation
Mathambo, P. (2015) The Efects of Political Advertising in Botswana. In Rooney, R. ed.
The Botswana Media Studies Papers, vol. 2. Gaborone, Department of Media Studies,
University of Botswana.
22
Of Shooting and Shootings Illumination as Africa Shoots Back

Foluke Ogunleye
Abstract
The cinema in Africa has been an instrument for all seasons. This article examines the
various functions that the cinema in Africa has performed at various times in the history
of the development of the continent. The article states that the cinema has been pressed
into service, both to colonize and decolonize the African mind. This is explained through
an exposition of the history of cinema in Africa, its use by the colonialists as well as its
roles in post-independence Africa. We discuss the fact that the cinema in colonial Africa
was used, both as a means of propaganda by the colonialists as well as a commercial
product by the business class. The article points out the fact that in spite of an attempt to
relegate the colonized Africans into the role of passive consumers of filmic fare, some
Africans were very active in the filmmaking business, thereby participating in laying the
foundation for the African film. The article identifies colonial cinema as annihilative in
the way its message is designed to destroy the image and psyche of the African. The
article concludes by examining ways in which post-independence African cinema can be
described as restorative through the way it positioned itself to recover lost ground by
designing its images to fight colonialism and to recover the African past. Also, rather
than harping on the colonial past, even in the twenty-first century, African filmmakers
are now performing a watchdog role by exploring themes relevant to present challenges
of governance (and mis-governance) in Africa.
Key words: African Cinema, Colonial Cinema, Post-independence African Cinema,
Third Cinema, Charte du cineaste Africain, FEPACI.
Imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and
remove from our land but from our minds as well.
-
Frantz Fanon
23

The ability to picture oneself is a vital need. In fact, if a man were to live
without the capacity of forging a picture of himself, he would have no
aspirations, no desires, no dreams of his own. The same applies to a
community, a society and a people. A society daily subjected to foreign
images eventually loses its identity and its capacity to forge its own destiny.
The development of Africa implies among other things the production of its
own images.
- Gaston Kabor
shooting of films by Africans to effect

decolonization.
It must however be noted that the act
of colonization was not merely
perpetrated through the barrel of the
gun, in a very insidious manner,
colonization was also perpetuated
through the barrel of the camera by
introducing the colonial film into
Africa. Such films were racist and they
were disseminated to show a negative
image of black people and to valorize
the white race.
Although political colonialism has
disappeared from the African continent
on the attainment of political
independence, the insidious form, that
of mind-colonization, remains and
one of its most vibrant agents is the
cinema. According to Marcelo Dascal,
the metaphor colonization of the
mind
highlights
the
following
characteristics of the phenomenon
under scrutiny here: (a) the intervention
of an external source the colonizer
in the mental sphere of a subject or
group of subjects the colonized; (b)
this intervention affects central aspects
of the minds structure, mode of
operation, and contents; (c) its effects
Introduction
The above quotes succinctly summarize
the intent of this article examining the
role that cinema played (and still plays)
in the colonization and decolonization of
the African mind. The career of the
cinema in Africa can be described as
colourful and eventful. In taking a
panoramic view of the film in Africa, we
ask the question what types of film
shooting have been going on in Africa?
It is not possible to comprehend the
totality of the African film without a
scrutiny of the colonial past. This
connection can be seen in the question
raised by Ossie Davis who directed the
first feature film made in Nigeria,
Kongis Harvest
power grows out of the
barrel of a gun might it not
also grow, in this instance, out of
a barrel of a camera! (Ossie
Davies, 1970: 18)
This implies different types of
shooting the colonial master shooting
his way to power (with the gun) to
accomplish colonization and the
24

are long-lasting and not easily
removable; (d) there is a marked
asymmetry of power between the
parties involved; (e) the parties can be
aware or unaware of their role of
colonizer or colonized; and (f) both can
participate in the process voluntarily or
involuntarily (Dascal, 2009: 308-309).
World War. Chikly also served as a

cameraman for one of the numerous
French filmmakers who flocked into
North Africa to utilize the scenic locales
in their productions. The title of the film
was Tales of the Arabian Nights/Les
Contes des mille et une nuits (1922)
directed by the Russian migr Victor
Tourjansky (Armes, 2006: 25).
Building on the experience garnered
from the above involvements, Chikly
recorded his first short fiction film titled
Zohra in 1922, and recorded his first
feature-length film titled Ain el-Ghezal
ou la fille de Carthage/The Girl from
Carthage in 1924. The film was reputed
to have been made entirely on location
(Armes,
2008:
3,
www.filmbirth.com/tunisia).
It
is
interesting to note that Zohra had a
major input from a woman Hayde
Chiklys daughter, who received credit
for being actress, scriptwriter, and
editor for the film (Armes, 2008: 3).
This shows that right from the inception
of film in Africa, women have been on
the front-line. The first major film
produced by an Egyptian was also
produced by a woman. The involvement
of women in African filmmaking will be
the subject of another article.
Although Egypt became theoretically
independent in 1922, British dominance
persisted until the 1952 military coup
against King Farouk. We can therefore
describe the pre-1952 Egyptian Cinema
as notionally pre-independence. Some
historical records state that Egypt started
indigenous feature filmmaking in 1923
with Muhammad Bayyumis minor short
fictions, al-Mualim Barsum Yabhath
An Wazifa /Master Barsum is Looking
for a Job. He followed this up in 1924
Pre-Independence Cinema in Africa

Under the colonial system, the
prejudices of the colonizers made it
impossible for them to imagine that an
African could actually make any sort of
film, let alone a feature film. The
assumption, chillingly spelled out by
Notcutt and Latham in their account of
the 1930s Bantu Educational Cinema
Experiment, was that, at best,
intelligent young Africans could be
trained to do much of the routine work
of the darkroom and the sound studios,
and even some of the semi- skilled
work. (Notcutt, & Latham, 1937: 183
cited in Armes, 2008: 3)
The denigrative opinion expressed by
Notcutt, & Latham above was debunked
by the activities of many Africans who
made films even during the colonial
period, against all odds. We will outline
some of them below.
The first pre-independence film
directed by an African is said to have
come from the North of the Sahara
specifically from Tunisia. The man who
directed and produced the film was a
Tunisian, Albert Samama Chikly. Chikly
started his career with the commercial
exhibition of Lumiere films, graduated
to recording actuality films such as the
one he filmed from a balloon in 1908
and his career of filming with the French
army at the war-front during the First
25

with al-Bashkateb/The Head Clerk and
al-Bash Katib/The Chief Secretary
(Leaman, 2001: 46). The first indigenous
feature film titled Leila was produced in
1926 by veteran actress, Aziza Amir.
With the coming of the indigenous
cinema, Egyptians now had something to
be proud of in the industry. According
to Magda Wassef, through its stars and
singers, Egyptian cinema became an
object of Arab desire and pride. Through
it, they feel reconciled with their
identity, ridiculed and crushed by the
destructive and often castrating colonial
presence (cited in Armes, 2006: 28).
Finally, the example of the man that
is now described as veteran film
historian and documentarist, Paulin
Soumanou Vieyra is quite interesting.
According
to
Gugler,
His
collaboratively made short, Africa on the
Seine/Afrique sur Seine, is one of the
pioneering films of francophone West
Africa. It explores the difficulties of
being an African in France during the
1950s and is considered to be the first
film directed by a black African.
(Gugler, 2003: 3, Armes, 2008: 129).
2003: 2). Frances Harding further

opined that the Africa portrayed in such
films was an Africa seen through the
romanticized filter of intelligent
animals, smarter than human beings,
the macho white hunter filter, killing
big game in the African safari, the
benevolent imperialist filter, presenting
colonialism as saving and civilizing the
African savages (Harding, 2003: 70).
Such films accomplished a lot of
damage to both the African image as
well as the African psyche.
A classic example of a film that
manifests the colonial agenda is Jamie
Uys The gods must be crazy. Although,
according to Armes, the film appeared
innocuous, poking fun at blacks and
whites alike, English documentary
filmmaker,
Peter
Davis,
has
demonstrated that it is impregnated with
the spirit of apartheid (Armes, 2006: 2627, Adesina, 2011: 54). The film utilizes
the mockumentary format (also known
as
a
mock
documentary
or
pseudodocumentary). It is a genre of
film and television in which fictitious
events are presented in a non-fiction or
documentary format (Roscoe and Hight,
2001: 10). At the beginning of the film,
the narrator describes the Kalahari and
its inhabitants:
Shooting to kill: Colonial Cinema in

Africa
Many film scholars have criticised the
annihilative nature of the colonial film.
According to Joseph Gugler, colonial
films propagated images of Black
Africa dominated by people of
European descent with whom Western
viewers could easily identify. Such
portrayals repeated and reinforced
negative
stereotypes,
presenting
Africans as barbaric, savage and
bloodthirsty, servants, incompetent, or
simply as part of the dcor (Gugler,
Narrator: It looks like a

paradise, but it is actually the
most treacherous dessert in the
world. The Kalahari, after the
short rainy season, there are
many water holes, but even with
this, within a few weeks the
water sinks into the deep
Kalahari sand So the beautiful
landscapes are devoid of people
26
Long Pause except for the

little people of the Kalahari.
Pretty, dainty, small and graceful
This is by no means an exhaustive list.

However, the list suffices for our
intent in this article.
The racist slur comes at the point of

the Long Pause in the narration. The
Narrator tells us the beautiful
landscapes are devoid of people, pauses
and tells us except for the little people
of the Kalahari. It is implied that these
people are insignificant. The word
little is an insult, and underscores how
inconsequential they are. In the light of
the foregoing explanation, the other
adjectives used to describe the people
pretty, dainty, small and graceful
therefore sound patronizing (Adesina,
2011: 58).
The film also utilizes elements of the
road movie, a film genre in which the
film's plot takes place during a journey.
According to Atkinson, during the
course of the story, the hero changes,
grows or improves (Atkinson, 1994: 14).
Unfortunately, by the end of the movie,
the main character, Xi, has not been
given any redeeming quality; he remains
a stupid and unintelligent person till
the end.
Shooting Down Colonial Fallacies Fighting Colonialism

African artists, politicians, thinkers, etc.
had severally condemned the nihilistic
tendencies of colonial cinema on the
continent. With one voice, they opined
that colonial cinema fosters cultural
domination, which is all the more
dangerous for, being insidious, imposes
on our people models of behaviour and
systems of values whose essential
function is to buttress the ideological and
economic ascendancy of the imperialist
powers (The Algiers Charter: 1975:
166). However, when African countries
attained
independence,
African
filmmakers also determined to decolonize Africa through the same
medium and have been making films
that tell the African story in all its
ramifications.
Their
position
is
documented in the Charte du cinaste
Africain (Charta of the African
Cinaste), adopted in Algiers in 1975 by
the union of African filmmakers
(FEPACI). It states partly:
Africa Shoots Back

African scholars have discussed the
various functions of the African film and
an examination of films made by
Africans has yielded the following
themes:
The Exploited and Neglected

Peasantry
... the cinema has a vital part

to play because it is a means of
education,
information, and
consciousness raising, as well as
a stimulus to creativity. The
accomplishing of these goals
implies a questioning by African
filmmakers of the image they
have of themselves, of the nature
Fighting Colonialism
Recovering the African Past
The struggle for Majority rule
in South Africa
Betrayals of Independence
27

of their function and their social
status, and of their general place
in society. The stereotyped image
of the solitary and marginal
creator which is widespread in
western capitalist society must be
rejected by African filmmakers,
who must, on the contrary, see
themselves as creative artisans at
the service of their people. (The
Algiers Charter: 1975: 166)
singular European Other and an

insurrection against an external
aesthetics. This position ignores
the way in which individual local
texts address emergent themes
that demote the West as the
reference point of non-Western
cultures. (Mwangi, 2009: ix)
It would be very ridiculous if in the
21 century, African filmmakers are
still mourning and harping on the
themes of paradise lost and regained
through the colonial enterprise. The
focus of African films is now mainly on
things happening on the continent. One
of the themes utilized by African
filmmakers is the denunciation of
betrayals of independence by the new
African rulers. They do this by
criticizing the social and economic
failures engendered by corruption and
mis-rule. Such films utilize the tropes
of 'Third Cinema, a cinematic
approach
that
rejects
the
commercialism of Hollywood and
focuses on a developmental agenda that
is openly political and preoccupied with
social considerations. An example of a
film belonging to this genre is Ousmane
Sembenes Mandabi (1968). In this
film, Sembene criticized the post
colonial world of the late 1960's,
bedevilled by unethical business
practices which grew out of capitalism
in Africa. The film also underscores the
suffering that would continue to be the
lot of the common man if governance
remains ineffectual.
st
An example of a film crafted in the

spirit of the Algiers charter is Kwaw
Ansahs Heritage Africa (1989).
In Heritage Africa, we are
introduced to a middle-aged cocky
African, Quincy Arthur Bossomfield,
who has become totally brainwashed
and alienated from his roots. He fits
into the image painted in Okot
PBiteks Song of Lawino & Song of
Ocol and involved in behaviour
described as apemanship an
overriding desire to ape the colonial
master (PBitek, 1984:5). However, by
the end of the film Bossomfield has
seen the error of his ways. Although he
dies at the end of the film, his death is
not regarded as a tragedy, because he
becomes reconciled to the ways of his
people and dies while fighting for the
rights of Africans.
Shooting from the Hip: Denouncing

Betrayals of Independence
...
although
postcolonial
theories are multiple, they seem
to be powered by the nownaturalized notion that African
literatures are a response to a
Conclusion
A Third World Filmmakers Meeting was
convened in Algiers in 1973 (December
28

5 - 14,) and the purpose was the
Discussion of common problems and
goals to lay the groundwork for an
organization of third world filmmakers.
The filmmakers resolved that the role
of cinema ... consists of manufacturing
films reflecting the objective conditions
in which the struggling peoples are
developing...contribute
sound
and
objective information for the people of
the entire world (Resolutions ..., 1973:
155, 158).
We will conclude this article by reemphasizing the basic differences
between the colonial inspired films and
the African films:
Colonial Films
Many colonial film producers never set
foot on African soil; they read many
adventure tales and painted their own
personal picture of Africa which had
nothing in common with the real Africa.
The black African is shown to be childlike,
in perpetual need of paternal guidance, and
portrayed as a superstitious cannibal contemptible and debased in society.
Colonial filmmakers attitude toward the
black man is to present him as an object of
entertainment. The jokes in racist films are
at the expense of the black man who is
made to look very stupid
Colonial films present blacks as noble
savages who, because of their ignorance
and lack of intelligence, lead a rustic life in
contrast with vibrant and progressive
Western culture.
Focus is on prejudicial propaganda.
Colonial films conclude with the
glorification of the myth of supremacy
the white man is presented as a heroic
achiever, while the black man is presented
as slothful and remains in a position of
servitude.
(Adesina, 2011: 108)
African Films
African film producers base their works on
cultural and intellectual history and African
literature. This enables them to portray a
realistic picture of the African continent.
Protagonists are portrayed, not as
complacent dupes but as intelligent, quiet
leaders who rebel against the injustice of
colonialism.
African
Film-makers
combine
entertainment with socio-political and
cultural discourse, and some consider
themselves the modern-day equivalent of
the griots.
African films provide filmic revisions and
reinterpretations of African history. The
images portray early African civilization as
rich and valuable.
Focus is on conscientization.
African films conclude by upholding the
African dream an Africa free from the
shackles
of
neo-colonialism
and
championing the renaissance of African
culture.
References
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,

Nigeria.
Armes,
R.
(2006).
African
Filmmaking North and South of Sahara.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Adesina, G. O. (2011). A Comparative

Analysis of Racism and Pan-Africanism
in Selected Films about Africa.
Unpublished M. A. Thesis presented to
the Department of Dramatic Arts,
29

PBitek , O. (1984). Song of Lawino
& Song of Ocol (reprint edition). African
Writers Series.
Roscoe, J. & Hight, C. (2001). Faking
it:
Mock-documentary
and
the
Subversion of Factuality. New York:
Manchester University Press.
Armes, R. (2008). Dictionary of

African Filmmakers. Indiana University
Press.
Atkinson, M. (1994). Crossing the
frontiers. Sight & Sound. 4(1).
Dascal, M. (2009). Colonizing and
decolonizing minds. In Kuuradi, I. (ed.).
Papers of the 2007 World Philosophy
Day. Ankara: Philosophical Society of
Turkey.
Gugler, J. (2003). African Film: ReImagining a Continent. Oxford, James
Currey.
Mwangi, E. M. (2009). Africa Writes
Back to Self Metafiction, Gender,
Sexuality. State University of New York.
Other references
2010, Resolutions of the Third World
Filmmakers Meeting, Algiers, December
514, 1973, in Black Camera, Vol. 2, No.
1 (Winter 2010).
2010, The Algiers Charter on
African Cinema, 1975, in Black
Camera, Vol. 2, No. 1, (Winter 2010).
About the Author

Foluke Ogunleye is a professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of
Botswana, Gaborone. She has lectured and served as a visiting professor in many
Universities. Her areas of research interest include media cultures, media industries as
well as gender from transnational and cross-cultural perspectives. Ogunleye has
published widely in internationally recognized books and academic journals.
Suggested citation
Ogunlye, F. (2015) Of Shooting and Shootings - Illumination as Africa Shoots Back. In
Rooney, R. ed. The Botswana Media Studies Papers, vol. 2. Gaborone, Department of
Media Studies, University of Botswana.
30
BTV Fails The People: an analysis of

Botswana Television News
Richard Rooney
Abstract
The Botswana Government, through a number of its departments and the Office of the
President, has since the stations launch in the year 2000 identified a number of aims for
the stations news programming. These include the necessity to inform people about
events within and outside the country, to interpret such events and whenever possible
suggest appropriate approaches to them and to do this by providing balanced, credible
and professionally-tailored programmes containing fair and balanced reporting. It must
do this while also promoting the policies of the Botswana Government. No substantial
research has been undertaken into the programming at BTV (news or otherwise) and this
research paper begins to fill the gap in our knowledge. It sets out to answer three broad
research questions: (i) what are the self-defined aims of BTV News?; (ii) to what extent
are these aims being met through the stations news bulletins?; and (iii) how well does
BTV fit the model of public service broadcasting?
To answer these questions a survey was made of material published by BTV and
Botswana Government departments to establish what its aims are. Once the model for
news programming was established a content analysis of 14 news bulletins was
undertaken to ascertain (i) the kind of items that were being broadcast and (ii) the
sources journalists used in their reports.
The BTV aims were interrogated by the data from the content analysis and it was
concluded that most aims were not met.
This is followed by a discussion identifying the main characteristics of public service
broadcasting (PSB) in which it is concluded that BTV is not a PSB broadcaster.
Key words: Botswana television, BTV, television, democracy, public service

broadcasting
to the audience. Television needs to
allow the expression of a full range of
opinions and matters of public concern.
This paper explores the extent to which
Botswana Television (BTV) allows this
to happen
Introduction
In theory, news on television can give
space to people who do not have a place
to air their views. But for this to work
the reports that appear on television need
to be of high quality, relevant and useful
31

BTV is the main television channel in
Botswana and is the only one that
broadcasts local news to the population
of the country. It is owned and
controlled by the state (Balule, 2013,
pp.86-87).
The Botswana Government, through a
number of its departments and the Office
of the President, has since the stations
launch in the year 2000 identified a
number of aims for the stations news
programming. These include the
necessity to inform people about events
within and outside the country, to
interpret such events and whenever
possible suggest appropriate approaches
to them and to do this by providing
balanced, credible and professionallytailored programmes containing fair and
balanced reporting. It must do this while
also promoting the policies of the
Botswana Government.
No substantial research has been
undertaken into the programming at
BTV (news or otherwise) and this
research paper begins to fill the gap in
our knowledge. It sets out to answer
three broad research questions: (i) what
are the self-defined aims of BTV News?;
(ii) to what extent are these aims being
met through the stations news
bulletins?; and (iii) how well does BTV
fit the model of public service
broadcasting?
To answer these questions a survey
was made of material published by BTV
and Botswana Government departments
to establish what its aims are. Once the
model for news programming was
established a content analysis of 14 news
bulletins was undertaken to ascertain (i)
the kind of items that were being
broadcast and (ii) the sources journalists
used in their reports.
The BTV aims were interrogated by
the data from the content analysis and it
was concluded that most aims were not

met.
This is followed by a discussion
identifying the main characteristics of
public service broadcasting (PSB) in
which it is concluded that BTV is not a
PSB broadcaster.
Media landscape in Botswana
BTV is the largest television station in
the country, but it does not transmit
across the whole nation, reaching only
about 40 percent of the population. BTV
is also available via the satellite
subscription services, DSTV, and can
thus theoretically be accessed by viewers
with a satellite dish and DSTV decoder
throughout the country (African Media
Barometer, 2011, pp.46-47).
The only other free-to-air television
station, eBotswana, a relation of e.tv in
South Africa, is broadcast in the capital
city, Gaborone and the surrounding area.
eBotswana, previously the Gaborone
Broadcasting Company, relaunched in
2010 and now states its vision is to be
the television channel of choice as well
as the best source of entertainment in the
country (eBotswana website).
Its schedule is dominated by foreign
programming , which it says includes,
Hollywood blockbuster movies that
have proven to be a major hit amongst
our viewers. However, to grow and
nurture local talent, eBotswana has also
produced local shows, not only serve to
provide viewers with locally produced
programs but also helps empower the
Botswana Television Industry (ibid).
Although the media landscape is
dominated by governmentcontrolled
media in both print and broadcasting,
there are significant numbers of private
media, especially in the print sector, with
a reasonable degree of diversity and
32

independence (Rooney, 2012; Fombad
2011, p.18).
In the broadcasting sector there are
two state-owned national radio stations;
three national privately-owned and eight
foreign stations in Botswana (IREX
2010).
vision, Vision 2016 (see below). It

recognized that the majority of Batswana
were young people, and that Botswana
had diverse cultural and language
groups. It also recognized that Botswana
was part of an integrated global village
and had to compete effectively (Dept. of
Information and Broadcasting website).
It also said that the role of the DIB
was to use BTV to mobilize Batswana
towards national development, to inform
them about events within and outside the
country, to interpret such events and
whenever possible suggest appropriate
approaches to them. The department also
educates and entertains citizens in
accordance with national development
goals and interests.
DIB said it executed editorial policy
in line with its role as a public service
media charged with the responsibility of
promoting policies of the government.
The department is hence, dedicated to
the provision of objective, balanced,
credible and professionally-tailored
programmes and publications.
The Standards and Values of
Botswana TV stated that Botswana TV
aspires to produce work to the highest
standards of professionalism.
Programmes must be impartial and
informative (BTV Standards and
Values website).
In a seeming contradiction to the
DIBs stated role to mobilize Batswana
towards national development, BTV
itself regarded its programming policy as
attempt[ing] to cover most genres, but
the emphasis at first must be on sports,
news music and talk shows (ibid).
However, possibly with the
departments mandate of national
development in mind BTV stated its
task was to celebrate and develop the
civic values that the nation hold
common, while reflecting and enjoying
Botswana TV: its aims as seen by itself

and the government
The purpose of this research paper is to
examine BTVs stated aims on news and
current affairs programming and to
examine empirically the product the
station actually broadcasts. In this way it
will be possible to come to a conclusion
about how well BTV is meeting its aims.
BTV and Radio Botswana 1 and 2 are
run as government departments, within
the Office of the President, with staff
hired by the Directorate of Public
Service Management, as is the case with
all government employees. Therefore,
the state broadcaster is not accountable
to the public (African Media Barometer,
2011, pp.43-44).
This means, according to the African
Media Barometer, that in effect BTV is
run as an organ of the government and
there is no legislation to guarantee the
stations editorial independence from
political influence.
Before coming under the present
Department of Broadcasting Services,
which is a division of the Office of the
President, BTV was part of the
Department of Information and
Broadcasting (DIB). The aims of the
station date from the days of DIB. The
DIB said the station committed itself to
provide at least 60 percent local content
to meet the diverse needs of Batswana
(the people of Botswana) According to
its guiding principles, the station was
upbeat and forward looking, and sought
to align its strategy with the national
33

the diversity of culture within
Botswana (ibid).
The commitment of BTV News was
stated as to giving you fair, accurate
and balanced reporting. In line with the
country's Vision 2016, BTV News aims
at ensuring that Batswana are properly
informed, educated and become
innovative.
It stated, There is no doubt in our
minds that BTV News is perhaps the
most watched show in the station. So to
those who wonder about editorial
independence and integrity we say,
watch us and judge for yourself for
indeed the proof of the pudding is in the
eating (BTV News Striving for the
Truth website).
A statement from the (unnamed)
Director Department of Broadcasting
that formed the introductory page to the
Botswana TV website appeared to have
been written at or about the time of the
stations launch in 2000. It said the
most basic benefit in introducing the
nations own TV service was that the,
people of Botswana had never really
seen themselves in the manner they
perceive themselves (BTV from the
Director website).
From the information supplied on the
various webpages we can conclude that
according to BTVs own interpretation
of its aim, the following statements
represent the stations commitments to
news and current affairs programming.
1. News and current affairs are to
inform Batswana about events
within and outside the country, to
interpret such events and
whenever possible suggest
appropriate approaches to them.
2. BTV executes editorial policy in
line with its role as a public
service media charged with the
responsibility of promoting
policies of the government.
3. BTV is dedicated to the
provision of objective, balanced,
credible and professionallytailored programmes.
4. BTV programmes must be
impartial and informative.
5. BTV News aims to broadcast
fair, accurate and balanced
reporting. In line with the
countrys Vision 2016, BTV
News aims at ensuring that
Batswana are properly informed,
educated and become
innovative.
6.
Vision 2016
In addition to BTVs interpretation of its
own aims, it is instructive to also
consider the aspirations of the people of
Botswana in regard to what the
television station might deliver.
Vision 2016 is a document published
as the result of deliberations of a
Presidential Task Force, which started its
work in January 1997. The Task Group
conducted extensive consultation with a
wide cross-section of individuals and
institutions in Botswana. The views and
ideas in Vision 2016 are said to reflect
as closely as possible the aspirations of
Batswana about their long term future
(Vision 2016 website, p.1).
Vision 2016 stated that regarding
Botswanas communication capacity,
particularly in the electronic media,
radio and television, Batswana will be
informed about the rest of the world.
Vision 2016 aspired that, all Batswana
will have access to the media through
national and local radio, television and
newspapers (Vision 2016 website, p.7).
Vision 2016 predicted, The society
of Botswana by the year 2016 will be
free and democratic, a society where
34

own interests, although an advertiser
would not have this kind of control.
BTV is funded wholly by a budget
drawn from taxpayers. Money made by
the broadcaster through advertising or
sponsorship goes directly into state
coffers (see also Balule, 2013, p.91).
The state broadcaster does not serve the
public interest, but that of the state.
Some AMB panellists felt that the
state was not funding the state
broadcaster adequately since BTV, for
example, is failing to meet its quota of
airing 60 percent local content.
As a state broadcaster, its funding is
already infiltrated. The state is
adequately funding the state broadcaster,
so it has control over it, including its
editorial content. This funding does not
protect it from arbitrary political
interference (African Media Barometer,
2011, pp.45-46).
The AMB reported that state
television, BTV, continues to push a
very one-sided viewpoint (that of
government/the ruling party) and it has
many repeat programmes and not much
diversity. Panellists said BTVs
programming is described by viewers as
boring and lacking in creativity
(African Media Barometer, 2011, p.48).
Some 90 percent of BTVs local
offerings are talking heads as the
station rarely goes into the field to
interview people. This could be
attributed to stifling of programme
content in order to stick to what has been
approved and agreed upon prior to
airing.
The AMB report said, People in
rural areas and those from low income
groups do not watch BTV because they
feel it is not relevant to them. The news
on both state radio and television is
particularly unbalanced and singlesourced (ibid).
information on the operations of

Government, private sector and other
organisations is freely available to all
citizens. There will be a culture of
transparency and accountability (ibid).
Vision 2016 stated, The challenge is
to ensure access of all families to
information technology, television,
audio and print media, and to further
develop an environment conducive to
the free flow of information among all of
the communities of Botswana (Vision
2016 website, pp. 17-18).
The African Media Barometer 2011
There is next to no research available
regarding audience attitudes to BTV
programming. The only easily-available
material was published by the African
Media Barometer (AMB) (2011).
AMB describes itself as, an in-depth
and comprehensive description and
measurement system (African Media
Barometer, 2011, p.2). It is an analytical
exercise to measure the media situation
in a given country. Every two to three
years a panel of 10-12 experts,
consisting of at least five media
practitioners and five representatives
from civil society, meets to assess the
media situation in their own country.
The AMB confirmed that BTV was a
state run and state-controlled
broadcaster. AMB commented, When
the state directs its own organ to do
something, it is not seen as interference.
The state is simply operating its own
machinery. State House is known to
give directives to the state broadcaster
about what topics to cover and not to
cover (African Media Barometer, 2011,
pp.45-46).
The AMB reported it was common
knowledge that government can stop
or delay the news bulletin to serve its
35

Generally, there is little balance in
news and current affairs offered by the
state radio and television services, as
opposition parties and viewpoints are not
given the same platform as the ruling
party, which dominates the airwaves.
There is also misleading information and
propaganda broadcast on BTV and RB 1
and 2.
BTV News was reportedly given an
instruction from State House in 2010 to
cover only the president and the vice
president as, they talk about issues of
national interest (African Media
Barometer, 2011, p. 49).
Sometimes state media journalists
have good intentions, as it is
traumatising from the inside, but you
cant strike your stomach.
AMB reported this has led to a
general lack of confidence by Batswana
in the state broadcaster, resulting in a lot
of people not watching or listening to
these services (ibid).
The quota for different programming
by BTV is reportedly 20 percent local
news, 30 percent local programming, 10
percent local interviews and 40 percent
foreign programming.
There is local content on the national
broadcaster, but this is not very diverse
or creative, especially on BTV. The state
television service has a budget of
P2million to procure local content, but
this is not sufficient and would only pay
for two 24-minute programmes, and not,
for example, a 13-episode local series
(African Media Barometer, 2011, p.50;
see also Ditlhokwa, 2014).
It is argued that BTV, was always
meant to be a political mouthpiece of the
ruling party, for its own political gain,
and that even if local producers find
their own funding, BTV is still reluctant
to air the programmes (African Media
Barometer, 2011, p.50).
Content analysis of bulletins

To examine the contents of BTV News,
a total of 14 bulletins were surveyed
over a period starting 6 January 2013
and ending 15 March 2013. The
occurrence of news is not evenly
spread across the week. For example,
law courts and government offices tend
not to operate at weekends and more
sporting events take place on Saturday
than any other day of the week.
Therefore, one might assume it is less
likely that political news will happen and
be reported at the weekend when in turn
there will be greater opportunities to
report sporting activities on Saturday
and Sunday.
To try to minimise bias due to the
uneven spread of news occurrences
across the week, the 14 days chosen
consisted of two bulletins from each day
of the week. A purposive sample was
used in selecting the dates: that is
bulletins were chosen at random until the
required total was achieved.
Botswana TV News (English version)
runs each day Monday to Sunday and is
aired at 20.00 hrs. It is scheduled to fit a
30 minute time slot, but in practice
during the survey period the programme
ran for between 20 and 25 minutes. The
remaining time in the 30-minute slot was
taken up with advertising and / or
previews of forthcoming programmes.
The news bulletin had a set running
order that never changed during the
research period. It ran as follows:
welcome and news headlines read by
announcer; news reports from within
Botswana; foreign news reports; stock
market and currency reports (Monday to
Friday only); sports news; closing
headlines read by announcer.
The total number of reports broadcast
in a bulletin varied between nine and 13.
36

As Table 1 shows, of these the number
of news reports from within Botswana
ran between three and seven. In 10 of the
14 bulletins 50 percent or fewer of the
items broadcast were from news reports

from Botswana.
Table 1: Number of news items originating in Botswana

Date (all 2013)
Sun 6 Jan
Mon 7 Jan
Tues 8 Jan
Weds 9 Jan
Tues 10 Jan
Fri 11 Jan
Sat 12 Jan
Mon 14 Jan
Sun 20 Jan
Weds 27 Feb
Tues 5 Mar
Thurs 7 Mar
Sat 9 Mar
Fri 15 Mar
TOTALS
Source: Author
No of local
news items
4
3
6
4
4
5
5
5
4
5
7
7
7
6
Total No of items
in bulletin
9
10
12
11
11
11
10
11
13
12
11
11
10
11
72
153
Reports from within Botswana

typically consisted of the studio
announcer reading an introduction to the
report followed by a reporter (rarely
himself or herself seen on camera)
presenting a voice-over report. There
was little attempt to present the report
visually. A typical report would consist
of a summary of an organised event that
took place (for example, a press
conference,
a
workshop,
a
commemorative
event
of
some
description). Dominant in the report
would be a speaker addressing a
gathering through a microphone. The
camera would cut away to faces in the
audience from time to time. However, it

was obvious that the cutaways were not
contemporaneous; that is the audience
were not filmed reacting to the words
spoken to them, the shots appeared to be
general footage of the audience that was
then cut into an edited report presumably
in an to attempt to add some life to the
report.
Other reports that were not from an
organised event would typically consist
of a person (usually a spokesperson for a
government
department
or
an
organisation of some kind) speaking to
camera. Rarely, were there reports that
had ordinary people (here defined as
37

people who did not appear to be
speaking on behalf of an organisation) at
their centre. During the research period
only eight reports (of a total of 72 from
within Botswana) were of this type.
In all occasions reporters were not
shown asking questions. In the case of
the public events, the speakers words
were shot during their speech to the
gathering. No one-on-one interview
between journalist and subject was ever
conducted. This was true, even when
technical problems (for example,
feedback in the amplifiers) distorted
what the speaker was saying to their
audience.
In this way, reporters never took the
opportunity to ask supplementary
questions of the speaker or hold them to
account on matters that might have been
controversial.
In the times when a person being
reported was not at an organised event,
but simply speaking to a camera, no
attempt was made to show the
involvement of the reporter. It is to be
supposed that the subject was
responding to a question from the
journalist before making their response.
However, there were no supplementary
questions asked by the reporter and
reporter and subject did not engage in
dialogue of any sort.
Often, the subject (at organised
events or in comments to the camera)
spoke in a language other than English.
BTV News made minimal efforts to
translate this for an English-only
speaking audience, making it difficult
for them to fully understand what was
being said in the report. This could even
be the case when the person speaking
was an official spokesperson for
government or a business entity and (one

supposes) would have been able to give
their comments in English if requested
by the reporter.
Foreign news consisted entirely of
agency reports. BTV News does not
have its own correspondents outside the
country. The studio announcer would
read brief reports based on agency
reports and filmed inserts supplied by
the agency would be shown.
The Botswana Stock Market and
currency report was read out by the
announcer. It consisted entirely of share
prices supplied by Botswana Stock
Market and foreign currency prices
supplied by the Bank of Botswana. No
analysis of the data was given (beyond
saying the prices had moved up or down
and by how much). During the whole
survey period these prices consisted of
the only news about business that was
broadcast, apart from where businesses
were involved in donating to charity or
some other social responsibility
activity.
Sports news consisted of two types:
(i) reports on sporting events that had
taken place or were about to take place,
and (ii) reports on the activities of
sporting organisations.
Some of those sports reports
originating from within Botswana were
indistinguishable from the general news
from Botswana. For example, during the
survey period there were separate reports
about Botswana athletics, football,
softball coaching and boxing that were
based on organised events such as press
conferences and mainly consisted of
officials talking about some initiative
they wished to be publicised.
38

It was rare to see any action footage
of sporting events that had taken place
within Botswana. The exception to this
was on one Saturday when footage of
that days soccer matches was shown.
The only action footage shown in the
survey period came from foreign
sporting events (for example, the Dakar
Rally and Australian Open Tennis).
This paper concerns itself with the
news items about Botswana broadcast on
the bulletins. Appendix 1 breaks down
the local news items from each bulletin
and gives a brief description of each and
identifies the main source or sources of
information for each.
Table 2 demonstrates that the local
news items on BTV News are dominated
by official state sources, such as the
government. A total of 29.1 percent
came
directly
from
government
ministries and / or the President and
Vice President of Botswana. These
included a statement (uncontested by the
journalist) from the President that poor
public services would be a thing of the
past and a report on a retreat organised
by the Department of Youth, Sport and
Culture to discuss its development plan.
A further 9.7 percent came from local
government and political parties,
including a response to farmers
complaining about a local councils
decision banning them from growing
cattle fodder. Of the three items about
political parties, two were from the
ruling BDP, one of which was a report
on the BDPs Womens Wings dinner.
Combined, these politically-oriented
items accounted for 38.8 percent of local
news items.
No other source category came close
to is. Items from parastatals (7 percent)
and the Botswana Defence Force (BDF)

contributed a further 9.8 percent of
sources. The BDF reports concerned a
local littler clean-up campaign.
The forces of law and order (police,
prison service, law courts) contributed
12.5 percent of sources. These included
reports on heavy traffic over the
Christmas / New Year holiday period,
road accidents and a prison escape.
The above statistics suggest that
journalists on BTV seem to over-rely on
official voices (politicians and other
representatives of the state) for their
local news sources.
There are other voices heard on BTV
news, but like the official state voices
these also tend to represent power. For
example, businesses (such as diamond
mining and tourism: two major drivers
of the Botswana economy representing
economic power) accounted for 11.1
percent of sources. The main thrust of
these items was that companies were
acting in socially-responsible ways to
local communities, for example Majwe
Mining donating clothes to poor
children.
Ordinary people are not entirely
overlooked by BTV News, but in the
research period there were only eight
local news items out of a total 72 (11.1
percent) that originated with them. The
news items included people complaining
about one thing or another (e.g. farmers
criticising local stores for not buying
their produce; parents worried that shops
did not have enough stocks of school
uniforms ahead of the start of the school
year; road traffic fines). They also
included two items that identified
children who were trapped by poverty:
one included children who were unable
39

poverty: both appeared to be poorly
concealed appeals for charity.
to attend school because they had

responsibilities at home as care givers;
the other was about a child trapped by
Table 2 Main source of information for local news stories: consolidated

figures
Source type
No of times appearing
Govt department or
ministers
President or Vice
President
Local councils
Political parties
14
Percentage of total
(figures rounded)
19.4
9.7
4
3
Botswana Defence Force

Parastatals
National organisations
Hospital management
2
5
2
2
Police / prison service

Law courts
7
2
Workshops / conferences
5.5
4.2
(38.8)
2.8
7.0
2.8
2.8
(15.4)
9.7
2.8
(12.5)
4.2
Businesses
11.1
Ordinary people
11.1
Miscellaneous, not
included above
TOTALS
Source: Author
7.0
72
Analysis of BTV News stated aims

The data collected in the content analysis
allow us to test BTVs stated aims for its
news programming. As discussed above,
BTV News has five main aims for news
and current affairs programming. Below
is a discussion that tests each of BTVs
aims against the data gathered in the
content analysis.
Aim 1: To inform Batswana about

events within and outside the country, to
interpret such events and whenever
possible suggest appropriate approaches
to them.
Comment: BTV has no journalists
operating outside the country and its
foreign news is supplied entirely by
international news agencies. Therefore,
40

BTV is unable to interpret these
events, nor offer appropriate approaches
to them. Also, BTV is limited in its
reporting from inside Botswana. In 10 of
the 14 bulletins 50 percent or fewer of
the items broadcast were from news
reports from Botswana. The local news
that is reported privileges the voices of
those with political and economic power
over the ordinary people.
The sources of the majority of news
reports in the bulletins seem to be
organized or staged events to which the
media are invited (sometimes the only
purpose of the event is to impart
information to the media). This raises
questions about the way the government
dominates the news agenda and who else
within Botswana is allowed to
communicate through the TV station.
We should be interested in the
relationship between journalists and their
sources because everyone should have
equal access to the media. We should be
concerned with relations between the
media and those who have political and
ideological power and especially
institutions that seek to define and
manage the flow of information in
contested
fields
of
discourse
(Schlesinger 1990, pp.62-66). The
traditional liberal pluralist view has it
that in a democracy the media reflects a
wide range of opinions and interests in
society. That position is contested by
Hall et al (1980) who argue that people
in powerful positions are able to over
access the media and become primary
definers of the news because journalists
faithfully reproduce what they say and
thus reinforce the existing structure of
power in society. The primary definers
are allowed to set the agenda and others
with opposing views have to insert

themselves into its definition of what is
at issue. In this way, Hall argues, the
dominant ideology of the ruling elite is
transmitted by the media (Hall et al
1980, p.58).
Generally, reports on BTV News are
presented at face value. Reporters tend
not to ask questions that require people
in positions of power to justify their
statements or actions. Reporters tend to
receive information from a single source
and re-present it unquestioningly in
reports. In most of the stories in the
survey, the reporter made little attempt
to gather additional information, not
even to get a balancing quote in the case
of a story about a matter of controversy.
Nor do journalists tend to give
background information to the stories,
even those running from day to day.
They seem to have no institutional
memory and are unable to draw on
information from their own archives to
put stories into context.
On a simple logistical level BTV does
not inform Batswana about events inside
and outside the country because
technically it is not capable of reaching
the whole population and people in rural
areas do not see the station as having
relevance to their needs (African Media
Barometer, 2011, p. 48).
Aim 2: The department also executes
editorial policy in line with its role as a
public service media charged with the
responsibility of promoting policies of
the government.
Comment: BTV promotes the policies
of the government, but this is done to the
exclusion of almost all opposition
voices. This is especially so on matters
41

of controversy. It is difficult for this
research to properly analyse BTVs
news agenda, because only those stories
the station chooses to broadcast are
visible. The researcher and the viewer
have no idea what news BTV has
chosen not to broadcast. There is
evidence that BTV censors news that is
unfavourable to government. AMB has
said, State house is known to give
directives to the state broadcaster about
what topics to cover and not to cover,
and that government can stop or delay
the news bulletin to serve its own
interests (African Media Barometer,
2011, p.45).
The Media Institute of Southern
Africa (MISA), Botswana chapter, in its
annual review of media freedom in the
country in 2011, came to a similar
conclusion. It described BTV reporting
during a long-running strike by public
sector trade unions as unashamed
propaganda for the government. The
viewers [of BTV] were treated to one
side of the story as government literally
dominated the airwaves and never
broadcast the point of view of the
unions (Ndhlovu, 2012, p.42).
It was clear during the strike that
whoever was in control believed the
thousands of Batswana workers who
were on a legal strike did not deserve to
be heard by the rest of the citizens
(Ndhlovu, 2012, p.43).
Freedom House has reported the
government occasionally censors or
otherwise restricts news sources or
stories that it finds undesirable. It gives
the example of coverage in 2010 of the
split in the ruling Botswana Democratic
Party (BDP) and the resulting formation
of the Botswana Movement for
Democracy (BMD) party that was

conspicuously absent from state-run
radio and television broadcasts, and
journalists were discouraged from
interviewing BMD leaders (Freedom
House, 2012).
BTVs role as a public service
media is not clearly defined. This has
been interpreted (see Ndhlovu, 2012,
p.43; Balule, 2013) to mean a public
service broadcaster. If this is the case
BTV fails on a number of levels that will
be discussed below.
Aim 3: The department is dedicated
to the provision of objective, balanced,
credible and professionally-tailored
programmes and publications.
Comment: BTV News bulletins are
not objective or balanced and therefore
are not credible. Journalists overly-rely
on people in power as sources of
information. The number of people
appearing in most news items is limited
in number and views in opposition to
government are not aired.
Journalists
do
not
behave
professionally as they do not hold
people to account. They do not question
the people they report on, instead
allowing them to make claims
unhindered. Even in matters of
controversy, such as the report from the
Presidents Office that poor public
services would be a thing of the past
(broadcast 11 January 2013), there is no
counterbalancing argument.
Journalists at BTV News also fail the
professional test by being incapable of
telling a story visually and using editing
techniques that are commonly used in
newsrooms across the world.
The lack of capacity of some media
practitioners in Botswana is recognised
42

Aim 5: To give fair, accurate and
balanced reporting. In line with the
countrys Vision 2016, BTV News aims
at ensuring that Batswana are properly
informed,
educated and become
innovative.
Comment: This aim has similar
characteristics to aim three and four
(above). It is correct that Vision 2016
aspires to see Botswana as a culture of
transparency
and
accountability.
(Vision 2016 website, p.7), but the
evidence from the bulletins suggests that
neither of these exist.
BTV and its government controllers
do not explain what they mean when
they want to see Batswana become
innovative. One might speculate that
this is somehow related to giving
viewers news and information that they
could use in some unspecified way in
their daily lives to improve their own
situations. However, it would be
impossible to identify an item in any of
the news bulletins examined in this
research that could be said to meet this
need.
by journalists themselves, who see them

operating as public relations people for
the powerful, (Ntibinyane, 2014) or
ignoring facts in favour of their own
prejudiced news angles (Molefhe, 2008).
Aim 4: Programmes must be
impartial and informative.
Comment: This aim seems to repeat
that covered in aim 3 (above). The
choice of news items to broadcast and
the restricted voices that are allowed to
speak demonstrate that the news is not
impartial. What information that is
broadcast is directed towards news and
views that the government wishes to be
broadcast,
rather
than
impartial
information that might help viewers
better understand the state of their
country.
One of the traits of journalism in
Botswana (print included) is its
unwillingness to produce stories that
contain a balance of views within them.
Instead, journalists opt for revisiting
stories over a period of time, introducing
new elements and different views in
each new episode. In this way
committed viewers or readers might be
able to piece together the disparate
elements of the story into a
comprehensible whole. But, each new
episode tends to include only one source,
thus there is no balance of views or
attempt at interrogation of the powerful.
This demonstrates a lack of capacity
among Botswanas journalists to
perform one of their vital roles within a
democracy which is to examine what
government is and is not doing and to
provide the public with information,
comment, analysis, criticism and
alternative views.
BTV and Public service broadcasting

BTV does not make the explicit claim to
be a public service broadcaster, but
many of its stated aspirations at least
imply that this might be its intention
(Balule, 2013). Therefore, it is useful
here, to explore the model of public
service broadcasting and to demonstrate
that it does not exist in Botswana.
Sometimes among broadcasters there
can be confusion about what are the
differences
between
a
public
broadcasting service and a public
service broadcaster. In simple terms a
public broadcasting service is a
43

service that is broadcast to the public.
This can include radio and television that
is
state-controlled,
commercial
broadcasting,
church
broadcasting,
national stations, local stations and
community stations. It is a generic term
and includes all forms of broadcasting
that reaches an audience. Even very
small stations such as the stations that
broadcast exclusively to one chain of
shops,
which play music and
commercials advising customers of the
bargains of the day (such as you hear in
some supermarkets) could be called a
public broadcasting service (Rooney,
2013).
Meanwhile,
public
service
broadcasting is a very specific form of
public broadcasting service. It aims to
inform, educate and entertain in a way in
which the commercial or state sector left
unregulated would not do. Generally, it
is understood that public service
broadcasters air a wide range of
programmes in a variety of tastes and
interests. They speak to everyone as a
citizen and everyone has an opportunity
to access the airways and participate in
public life (Balule, 2013, p.81).
The World Radio and Television
Council put it well when it defined
public service broadcasting as a
meeting place where all citizens are
welcome and considered equals. It is an
information
and
education
tool,
accessible to all and meant for all,
whatever their social or economic
status (Rooney 2013).
As Rooney (2006) has stated, today,
there is a wide geopolitical consensus
that political systems should exist to
provide opportunities for all the people
to influence government and practice
(DFID 2001) and that the media

reinforce or foster this kind of
democracy (Price and Krug, 2002, p.3).
To engage effectively there is an
assumption that access to information is
the first requirement for an engaged,
participative democracy (Roth, 2001,
p.13). An active citizenry will help
prevent governmental excesses and
breed trust in the democratic system,
thereby enabling the private media to
perform their functions (Tetty, 2003,
p.28) and the media are the major
mechanisms by which citizens are
informed about the world (Sparks,
1993). There are specific public interest
political goals which the media can be
used to serve, including the following:
informing
the
public,
public
enlightenment, social criticism and
exposing government
arbitrariness,
national integration and political
education. But the more the media serve
the narrow self-interest the less able they
are to serve the other group of public
interests (Ojo, 2003, pp.829-830).
Public service programming fulfils
some of the criteria necessary for
democratic participation. Public service
programming aims vary from country to
country but there is a core of common
features that are universally valid. Public
service broadcasting is broadcasting
made for the public, financed by the
public and controlled by the public.
Generally, the public is the entire
population of the country and ideally
means every household in the service
area should be in a position to receive
the programme service. Programming
should be in the fields of information,
entertainment and education for people
of all ages and social groups. It plays an
44

active role in presenting and promoting
national culture and can contribute to
strengthening notions of identity and
community and establish adequate
interaction between citizens and their
immediate
wider
communities
(Rumphorst, 2003, pp.73-74; Yaakob,
2003, p.96).
Broadcasting has a role as a partner in
development as it can help to mobilise
people who are directly affected by a
community condition (that is, the
victims,
the
unaffiliated,
the
unrecognised, and the non-participating)
into groups and organisations to enable
them to take action on the social
problems and issues that concern them.
For community development to take
place, the people must first be conscious
of and open to changes for development
(Dy, 2004).
People have a right to express their
needs and concerns, in development
programmes and across society and
government. At an operational level,
fulfilling peoples rights to speak about
problems with service delivery will
improve service provision. More
fundamentally, communication can help
create open and responsive government
(Burke, 1999).
But, public service broadcasters
should be neutral towards all parties,
providing
facts,
education
and
entertainment to the people, and not
serve as the mouthpiece of those in
power (Samuon, p.106).
BTV meets none of the conditions to
be a public service broadcaster. It does
not air a range of programmes in a
variety of tastes and interests. It does not
treat the citizens of Botswana as equals,
affording access to the airwaves to all.
Instead, it privileges the Botswana

Government and those in powerful
positions in society. BTV does not
attempt to achieve public interest
political goals which would include
informing and enlightening the public.
Nor does it allow space for social
criticism or to expose the arbitrariness of
government.
Conclusion
This paper has concluded that on the
evidence of what BTV News broadcasts
in its daily bulletins it is not fulfilling the
aims it has been set by itself and the
government which include the necessity
to inform people about events within and
outside the country, to interpret such
events and whenever possible suggest
appropriate approaches to them and to
do this by providing balanced, credible
and professionally-tailored programmes
containing fair and balanced reporting.
It has also concluded that BTV News
does not fit the model of a public service
broadcasting provider.
There remains an unanswered
question. Why did BTV News set these
aims in the first place? We might
speculate that in Botswana it is not in the
interests of the ruling party (the
Botswana Democratic Party since the
country gained its independence from
Britain in 1966) to allow the airwaves to
be used by those who might wish to
criticise it. With no real alternative local
television station in Botswana, the
government holds the monopoly for
television news and probably has no real
desire to see the airwaves democratised.
There is no strong advocacy within
Botswana for large scale change in its
45

broadcasting landscape and despite the
existence of press freedom advocates
such as the Press Council of Botswana
and the Media Institute of Southern
Africa the government is under no
pressure to make changes in this regard.
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Paper,
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Available
at
http://www.scribd.com/doc/123306571/
Swaziland-Broadcasting-Not-For-ThePeople [Accessed 17 February 2014].
Roth, C. (2001) The Media in
Governance: a guide to assistance.
Developing Free and effective media to
serve the interests of the poor. London:
Department
for
International
Development.
Rumphorst, W. (2003) What is
Public Service Broadcasting? In: S.
Eashwar, ed. Responses to Globalization
and the Digital Divide in the Asia
Pacific.
Samuon, D. (2003) Public Service
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In: S. Eashwar, ed. Responses to
Globalization and the Digital Divide in
the Asia Pacific. Kuala Lumpur: AsiaPacific Institute for Broadcasting.
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the Sociology of Journalism: Source
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http://www.btv.gov.bw/from_the_direct
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47

About the author
Richard Rooney is an associate professor and head of the Department of Media Studies at
the University of Botswana, Gaborone. He has taught in universities in Europe, Africa
and the Pacific. His research, which specialises in media and their contribution to
democracy and good governance, has been published in books and academic journals
across the world.
Suggested citation
Rooney, R. (2015) BTV Fails The People: an analysis of Botswana Television News.
In Rooney, R. ed. The Botswana Media Studies Papers, vol. 2. Gaborone, Department of
Media Studies, University of Botswana.
48
Appendix 1 News sources for the Botswana News items

1 Sunday 6 January 2013
Item
New mayor elected
Parents rush to buy school uniforms
before schools reopen
Police shoot and injure man
Heavy traffic over holiday period
Source(s) of information
Local council meeting
Unclear might be journalists initiative
Police
Government department
2 Monday 7 January 2013

Secondary schools reopen
Magistrates court orders committal in
murder case
BDP (government party) statement on
MPs who change political parties
Education Director public address

Law court
BDP general secretary
3 Tuesday 8 January 2013

Government schools reopen poor exam
results last term
Farmers complain about local council
decision banning growing of cattle
fodder
Primary school exam results published
late
Seven prisoners escape
Well-known musician dies
Outbreak of African Army Worm
4 Wednesday 9 January 2013
More Batswana people are holidaying
within Botswana
Delay in publishing school exam results
30 die in road accidents during holiday
period
Children cant go to school because they
are care givers.
Head teacher
Farmers and local council
Botswana Exams Council
Prison service
Source uncertain. His record producer is
interviewed
Ministry of Agriculture
Tourism businesses
Botswana Examination Council press
conference
Police
One child is interviewed. She appears to
be appealing to viewers for financial help
49

5 Tuesday 10 January 2013
Met Office forecast of rain for next three
months
Children are affected by extreme poverty
Crime rates
Vice President visits farmers who are
complaining about not being allowed to
grow cattle fodder
6 Friday 11 January 2013
Office of President says poor public
services are a thing of the past
Farmers unhappy local chain stores are
not buying their produce
Workshop on anti-poverty (business
management)
Mining company and its ongoing social
responsibility projects
Four of seven escaped prisoners
recaptured
One mother interviewed

Police and courts
VP, farmers, Botswana Water Company
Presidents Office
One farmer, one business.
Workshop
Debswana
Police
7 Saturday 12 January 2013

Follow up on stories about poverty aired
earlier in the week. Businesses have
made donations
Famous musician is buried
Late rains allow for late ploughing of
fields
Mining project construction at Jwanenge
Miss Botswana Pageant to go ahead
8 Monday 14 January 2013
Princess Marina hospital has electricity
crisis
Oil spilling from businesses into
residential area
Majwe Mining donates clothes to
children
Serowe Association of Disabled could
close due to lack of funds
Retreat organised to discuss Youth,
Sport and Culture Development Plan
Met office
Business who made donations

Family of musician
Farmers interviewed
Debswana press conference
Botswana Council of Women press
conference
Hospital management, Botswana Power
Company
Residents, Dept for Environmental
Affairs
Majwe Mining presentation
Workers at the association
Dept of Youth, Sport and Culture
50

9 Sunday 20 January 2013
Vice President urges solution to foot and
mouth disease
MP urges residents to take advantage of
rain and plough fields
Motorists complain about level of traffic
fines
Houses collapse in heavy rain
10 Wednesday 27 February 2013
Botswana Defence Force commemorates
death of soldiers at Lesoma in 1978
President says BDP (govt party) will be
disciplined if they put their own
interests ahead of the people
Botswana Defence Force clean-up
campaign in village
Minister of Education visits local
councils to talk about back-to-school
programme
Launch of new umbrella organisation of
political parties for democratic change
11 Tuesday 5 March 2013
President opens international health
conference in Gaborone
Public meeting on fight against malaria,
organised by mining company
Commemoration of Africa Environment
Day
Minister opens Africa Technology
Conference
Minister of Trade and Industry
statement on trading between Botswana
and S Africa
Govt officials tour rural area in response
to residents concerns over damage
caused by mining.
BDP Womens Wing dinner
Vice president at a public meeting

MP at public meeting
Motorists and police
Residents
BDF commemoration
President
BDF brigadier
Minister of Education
Political rally
President, conference participants

Karowe Mine
Government minister
Minister of Transport and
Communication at conference
statement
Ministry
BDP
51

12 Thursday 7 March 2013
Water shortages in Gaborone
International health conference final day
Meeting on youth and AIDS
Youth and AIDS disability workshop
Prices of houses too high because of
shortage of land for building
Court prosecutor jailed for contempt of
court
Police warn about motorists giving lifts
to passengers without permit
Botswana Water Company

Conference participants, including
UNICEF
Minster of Youth, Sport and Culture
Botswana National Library Services
Bank of Botswana, real estate companies
Magistrates court
Police
13 Saturday 9 March 2013

President on walk-about meeting people
near Francistown
Initiative launched to prevent blindness
District council rejects plan to build river
bridge
Commemoration International Womens
Day
Campaign on road safety
Restocking of cattle begins after foot and
mouth disease
Crime wave in Gaborone West
14 Friday 15 March
Abattoir reopens (closed for poor
standards)
Expo on firefighting equipment
Management response to continuing
power outages at Princess Marina
Hospital
Government responses to water wastage
through leaks during water shortage
crisis
Opening of conference on fair
competition
President opens National Council of BDP
President
Standard Chartered Bank and Ministry
of Health
Local council
Meeting
Police and motoring businesses
Government agencies
Residents, police
Butchery operators
Central District Council
Hospital management, hospital PRO
Minister of Minerals
Water Utilities PRO
President and meeting
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THE BOTSWANA MEDIA

A Collection Presented by the Media Studies

The Botswana Media Studies Papers, vol 2

The Media Studies Papers, vol 2.

Published by The Media Studies

2015. Copyright remains with

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The Effects of Political Advertising in Botswana

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Gazette (2009). Political Advertising

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Kellehear, A. (1995). The unobtrusive

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Southern Africa Barometer. (2009).

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West, D. M., M. Kern, D. Alger &

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shooting of films by Africans to effect

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